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Elliott, Zetta, 2010 March 24

Biographical / Historical

Zetta Elliott was born in 1972 and raised in Canada. She made her first visit to New
York City and to her cousin Lil's home in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights
in 1979. Elliott moved to Brooklyn in 1994 and has been a permanent United States
resident since the late 1990s. She received a doctoral degree in American Studies
from New York University in 2003. She is a poet, playwright, essayist, author, blogger
and publisher. Her award-winning books include the picture book, "Bird," and the novel
"Ship of Souls." "The Deep" was published in 2013. In 2015, she was the writer-in-residence
at the Weeksville Heritage Center. A self-described Black feminist writer committed
to social justice, Elliott continues to live in Brooklyn.

Scope and Contents

In the interview, Zetta Elliott recalls her first memories of New York City in 1979
and her cousin Lil's house on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood.
She touches on her grandfather's history in Antigua and Canada and how her cousin
made money from selling crocheted items at a hospital. Elliott discusses going to
graduate school at New York University and becoming an author, listing her books that
take place in Brooklyn. She notes the importance of "mapping community" and appreciating
local landmarks and architecture. She discusses her father's immigration from the
Caribbean to Canada and the United States as well as her own immigration to New York
City. She describes her mother, mentioning a brief genealogy that included slavery.
Elliott closes by advising on the importance of listening to peoples' stories. Interview
conducted by Ansie Montilus, Monica Parfait, Treverlyn Dehaarte and Alex Kelly.

Conditions Governing Access and Use

Access to the interview is available onsite at the Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer
Library. Use of the oral histories other than for private study, scholarship, or research
requires the permission of BHS. For assistance, contact library@brooklynhistory.org.